Future Leaders Advancing Research in Endocrinology (FLARE): Professional Development for Underrepresented Trainees and Junior Faculty

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ABSTRACT Recruitment, training, and retention of a diverse biomedical and clinical workforce is an essential component of any comprehensive approach aimed at advancing health and health equity. Importantly, while several organizations, including professional societies, develop trainee-focused programs, relatively few focus on the unique needs of minorities underrepresented in life sciences, specifically in biomedical and clinical research particularly throughout critical career transitions. To meet this need, the Endocrine Society developed the Future Leaders Advancing Research in Endocrinology (FLARE) Program, a multi-faceted training program for minority graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and early-stage faculty involved in endocrine-related research. The objective of the program is to actively foster the professional development of these early-stage investigators to enhance their preparedness for career advancement within research-based institutions, the scientific community at large and to develop them as future leaders of the Endocrine Society itself. Program components include a leadership training workshop, a virtual community, a mentoring program to build relationships between FLARE fellows and dedicated mentors, a Society-based internship, and a fellow/alumni symposium. Fellows selected for the internship participate in a governance committee of the Society and develop mentoring skills by engaging with undergraduate students participating in the Society’s summer research fellowship program and by visiting minority serving institutions to give seminars and host mentoring workshops. The FLARE Program also collaborates with other established diversity, inclusion, and outreach initiatives such as the Keystone Symposia Fellows Program, and the Network of Minority Research Investigators of the NIDDK, that provide additional opportunities for networking and career advancement in addition to identifying mentors and new FLARE faculty. Thus, the FLARE Program provides early career minority investigators with unique and targeted professional development and enhancement opportunities that prepare them to succeed and emerge as leaders in biomedical and clinical research careers.